In Loving Memory
by Dlbn
Summary: The Membranes used to have a puppy... Dedicated in loving memory of my dog, Rosie, who passed away on April 12, 2012.


Dlbn: Hey there everyone. It's time for another fic of mine.

Nbld: This fic has nothing to do with our previous Invader Zim stories. It stands well on its own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or anything related to it. That all belongs to Jhonen C. Vasquez

DEDICATED IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY PRECIOUS, SWEET, BEAUTIFUL POODLE; LITTLE ROSIE. I LOVE YOU, BABY GIRL. YOU WILL BE MISSED TERRIBLY.

JUNE 1997-APRIL 12, 2012

I LOVE YOU, ROSIE. NEVER FORGET THAT.

000

Professor Membrane shoveled the last bit of dirt onto the small, freshly dug grave. His children, Dib and Gaz, stood behind him. Three year old Gaz wasn't paying much attention, but four year old Dib was wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Why did you put Copper in the ground, daddy?" Dib asked softly.

Membrane sighed and turned to his kids. He knelt down and answered the boy. "Cooper's gone, son." He said, not being one to sugar-coat things. "He's passed on."

"Passed on?" Dib's eyes widened.

He remembered that phrase. It was the same thing daddy had said when they put his mommy into the ground.

"Yes, son." Membrane said, reaching out to lovingly stroke his son's hair a bit. "I'm sorry."

"Is he with mommy now?" Dib asked.

Membrane swallowed the lump in his throat that was threatening to bring tears. "Yes, son. He's playing fetch with mommy in heaven right now."

"Really?"

"Really." Membrane sighed, knowing that he was lying to his kids. He'd promised that he'd never do that. But the time called for it, he supposed. He stood. "Do you want to say goodbye to Copper, Dib?"

Dib nodded and walked towards the freshly packed dirt. "Bye-bye, Copper." He told the makeshift grave. "I'll miss you." He plucked a flower from the ground and set it on the dirt. "I hope you have fun with mommy."

"Gaz?" Membrane asked, looking to his daughter. "Do you want to say something?"

Gaz just grunted and ignored her father.

"It needs a stone." Dib informed.

"A what?" Membrane asked.

"A stone! Like the one mommy has!"

A tombstone.

"Now, son, they don't make those for dogs."

"Can't we make one?" Dib's eyes brimmed with tears; both at the idea that Copper didn't get a nice stone like mommy did, and at the fact that Copper was gone for good.

"I…suppose we could…" Membrane sighed. "I'll go get a wood plaque tomorrow, and we can…"

"No!" Dib argued. "It has to be stone! Like mommy's!"

"Dib, that's impossible."

"No its not! I can just draw on a stone! Please, daddy? I want Copper to have something nice like mommy does! How will he know that we love him if we don't give him a stone?"

"Copper knows you love him, son." Membrane said. "He was a smart dog. "Now, enough of this." He handed Dib a marker form his lab coat. "If you want to write on a stone so badly, be my guest. I'm going back in the house. End of it." He left.

Dib stuck his tongue out at his father before looking around. "Where am I going to find a stone _here_?" He wondered aloud.

"Talking." Gaz muttered.

"Huh?"

"You. Talking to you."

"Whatever, Gaz." Dib waved a hand at the girl. "I'm going to look around for a stone to write on!"

Gaz grunted and didn't even look up at her brother as he walked around the yard; searching for a stone he'd never find.

000

Dib returned to where Copper was buried, empty-handed, about ten minutes later. He sighed and wiped his wet eyes. He hadn't been able to find a stone in the yard, and he couldn't go to another yard to look. Daddy wouldn't let him.

"I can't find a stone." Dib told Gaz softly.

She grunted at him.

"Poor Copper." Dib cried, flopping down on the ground in front of the grave. "Now he'll never know we love him! He doesn't have a stone like mommy! He needs a stone like mommy!"

Gaz stood shakily and toddled over to her brother. She threw something at his head.

"Ow, Gaz!" Dib rubbed at his head. "That wasn't nice! It hurt!"

"Whiner." Gaz toddled off towards the house, where her father had conveniently and stupidly left the back door wide open.

Dib rubbed his head some more. "What _was_ that?" He looked down. A nice round, smooth, grey rock sat at his feet. "A stone! Gaz found a stone!"

Dib picked it up and put it in front of him. He yanked the cap off of the pen, with some difficulty. With the cap out of the way, he began to write on the stone.

~COOPER

MY BEST FRIEND

WE LOVE YOU, COOPER

2001-2003~

000

Nine years later, twelve year old Dib Membrane chewed on a piece of peanut butter covered toast as he stood before a grave he'd seen a thousand times before. A little stone sat in front of the grave, which grass had grown over and decorated green. The little round rock still read the same thing Dib had wrote on it years ago in his childish writing. He sighed.

"Hey there, Copper." He spoke to the grave. "How's it going?"

He didn't expect an answer, because that would be silly, and stood there in silence. He chewed on his toast until it was good enough to swallow.

"I'm getting closer to stopping Zim, you know." Dib said. "That alien monster must be stopped!"

Something hard and heavy hit the back of his head, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Hey!" Dib complained.

Loud, maniacal, and unrestrained laughter filled the air. Dib recognized that cackle anywhere. "Zim!" He yelled at the alien in disguise, turning around as he did so.

"Talking to yourself again, Dib-Human?" Zim asked between laughter. "Perhaps there really _is_ something wrong with that huge head of yours!"

"My head's not big!" Dib snapped back. He picked up what Zim threw at him and started to throw it back, but he stopped. The rock was small and perfectly round. It looked like the one Dib had written on for Copper.

"What's the matter, stink-creature?" Zim asked, calling Dib one of his typical insults. "Forget how to use your disgusting arm?"

"Oh, shut up, Space Monster!" Dib ordered. "It's not your business, but my arm is working fine!" To prove his point, he pulled a water gun out of his pocket and aimed. "You know what's in this, Zim?" He smirked. "Water!"

"Who would put that HORRIBLE LIQUID into a gun?" Zim asked. "Stupid, inferior humans…"

Dib sighed. "What do you want, anyway, alien scum?"

Zim's face darkened. "How _dare_ you refer to a member of the great Irken Empire as _scum_?" He scowled. "You shall pay!"

Dib rolled his eyes and looked back at the grave.

"Hey! Are you listening to Zim?" Zim called. "I _said_ you shall pay!"

"Shut up, Zim!" Dib yelled back before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Copper. You don't need to be hearing this."

"Copper?" Zim asked, taking a step closer. "What is this 'copper' of which you speak? Is it a deadly weapon…?"

"Copper's a dog, moron." Dib answered.

"Dog?" Zim asked. "I see no FILTHY canine…"

"Copper is _not_ filthy!" Dib scowled. "He's my pet."

"…Pet?" Zim asked. "Why I have I not seen this _pet_ around?" He took a few more cautious steps forward. "And what is _that_?"

"This?" Dib asked, looking at Copper's grave. "It's a grave you idiot."

"Guh-rave?" Zim asked. "What is a grave? Is it some type of social gathering? Like those 'rave'…_things_…Gir goes to?"

"What?" Dib asked. "No! A grave is not a party!"

"Then what is it?" Zim asked. "Tell Zim!"

"Okay, okay!" Dib asked. "Geeze, Zim, is it even possible to _be_ this stupid?"

Zim glared. "Tell Zim now!"

"Okay!" Dib caved. "A grave is where you bury a dead person, so you come pay respect to them."

"So…there's a dead person under there?" Zim asked. "Dis…dis_gusting_!"

"Not a person, my dog! Copper, remember?" Dib as frustrated. How could a so-called 'advanced' life form be so moronic? "Look, Zim, this is what humans do. When someone or something close to us dies, we bury it and visit it to pay respects. Don't you do that on _your_ planet?"

"Of course not!" Zim said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If an Irken dies, they die." Zim shrugged. "They are simply burned or sent to the Smeet hatcheries to be disposed of."

"Cremation, hm?" Dib pulled a notebook out of his pocket. "And tell me, Zim, do you go and pay respect to these Irkens? Or are they just forgotten?"

"Forgotten, of course." Zim beamed. "Why would you respect a dead thing? It's so…barbaric, and…" He spotted Dib's notebook. "Wait! Why am I telling _you_ _any_thing?" He ripped the notebook from the human.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"NEVER!" Zim took off running.

"Get back here, alien scum! Give me my notebook!" Dib gave chase, dropping the rock Zim had thrown behind him.

Under the tree in the Membranes' front yard, a dog-shaped shadow moved. The ghostly figure came into the sunlight and shook itself off. The small tag around his neck jingled. The dog barked and panted as he faded off into the night. The nametag, which would shine bright and reflect the sun if the dog were actually alive, had only one word written on it.

Copper.


End file.
